GATE: The Kingdom of One-Thousand Years
by DoctorGetzie
Summary: Nazi Zombies. Two words,a big meaning. A mashup of the Sniper Elites Nazi Zombie Army and GATE stories. Two armies, one of the future and one of a doomed world, with an ancient, magical land caught in the middle.
1. Chapter 1

Conscript Hijras marched out in a row of men, a column of shields, swords, and spears. This was one of the many formations of the Imperial army, something that made them more powerful than any of their neighbors, or the now vassal states. He was a shieldman, armed with a large, six-foot tall shield. On my left and right was about 6 others. It would have been longer, but the entry way they were going to was far too thin for any large formation. Behind him was a line of spears, raised right now, but should combat begin, they would be layered to ward off cavalry and infantry. Each shieldman was armed with a short sword to engage in combat when the enemy gets close.

The entry in front of us was... odd to say the least. It was a very tall door, maybe even 35 feet tall. It was like the door to a palace, but the odd thing was, it was in the middle of a field. There was absolutely nothing on the other side, just the other side of the door. When the Imperial soldiers tried to open it, the door refused to budge, not that it mattered. Philosopher's had prophesized, based on ancient texts, the arrival of the Gate. It would not open until it wanted to, and they did not know how long it would take.

Then, it happened, the Gate opened. Hijras had been eating with a few other conscripts, then, a loud, eerie sound came from the Gate. It slowly opened, ominous and giving off a powerful wind. Several men standing near the Gate were blown off their feet, falling on their backs. Everyone watched, utterly shocked, the dual Gates finally becoming fully opened. Inside, it was pitch black, a gray smoke rolling out like the mist from ice. A chill came over the men closest, causing them to shudder, both out of fear and out of the cold.  
"FORM UP!" An officer barked, his voice laced with fear. Quickly, the shields formed up, Hijras among those in the front. Behind, spearmen took position, and the back of our formations was made up of conscripted demi-humans.  
"FORWARD... MARCH!" The force went onwards, watched by the other men. The moment they stepped in, the slight chill became an almost unbearable frost. The armor the troops wore was not designed for the cold, with open arms and legs, so it was VERY cold for the men. the force went forwards for several meters, the hall completely empty, and pitch black. Loud clangs filled the hall as the shields collided with a wall, something they could not see part in thanks to the lack of light. The spears were able to stop early, their spears also colliding with the wall as well. However, everyone behind them crashed into the spearmen, knocking them forwards into the shields.  
"STOP, STOP! THERE'S A WALL, MORONS!" The commander of the shield line yelled, trying to push back. Slowly, the forces behind them lessened their idiotic push, and they could go back. Just that moment, a faint light appeared, a long crack from the top to the bottom. To the group's great surprise, this was another door, opening out into a new area.

Moonlight filtered in through the other side, casting an ominous hue over the line of shields and their fellow soldiers. Everyone was shocked to find that the door had, indeed, opened on its own, but even more odd than that was this new area. It was open, the floor made of concrete, with several roads leading off in every direction. A heavy fog had rolled in, making seeing anything for further than 15 feet close to impossible. Shadows were still cutting through the fog, massive buildings, broken apart and visibly damaged, being the casters. Flames licked the walls and other things, giving little light through the haze. Massive, metal objects loomed, rammed through buildings and blocking off streets. Rubble at each building looked as if they had just fallen from them and sat, uncleaned.

The group fanned out, beginning to drop their guard. The fog was close to the ground, making it hard to see anything. A large, metal carriage was in flames, all of its wheels missing. Without a word, the Captain indicated to each street, an order to make shields walls at each of them. There were four, one was blocked by the massive iron beast, fire coming from the top, the other three were open, but it was impossible to see anything. It was as if the fog thickened there, like a massive wall expanding up as high as the ruined buildings.

Amongst the shieldmen on the path just left of the burning beast was Hijras. He strained his eyes to see just a little further, but to no avail. The fog was just far too thick to see through. Behind him, one of the swordsmen walked around the clearing, looking up and not noticing what was at his feet. His foot hit something... soft... meaty. Like he had walked into an animal. He stepped back, shocked, and looked down. He looked into the one remaining eye of the face poking through the dense fog. The entire left side of his face had no skin, no eye in the socket. His jaw was ripped sideways, hanging on only by the right hinge, which was in no better condition. Flesh hung off in clumps as if something had been devouring it, but grew bored or was forced away. The soldier screamed, jumping back. At that moment, the fog cleared on the ground, showing that this place was not just an empty clearing, it was a fucking graveyard.

Dozens of bodies lay strewn about, but the worst of it all was a pile of what everyone had first thought was rubble but was instead body parts and full bodies. They were mutilated and looked half devoured. It was a bloody mess, blood still oozing from the pile and across the floor, into gaping holes in the side of the roads. A fist slammed through the pile, pushing body parts away. Another pushed out, both hands grabbing either side of the pile, dragging something out, a man.

He was no regular man, though, he was in VERY bad condition. His face had three wicked slashes across his face, tearing the flesh away in sickening clumps, hanging from his face. His eyes glowed a deep, orange color, illuminating his damaged face even further. He wore the torn remains of a cloth uniform, his ribcage showing clearly in the middle. Held tightly in his yellow teeth was the arm of a human, blood oozing from where it had been ripped off. It dropped the arm, letting out a guttural, low roar. The sound was far louder than that a man should have been able to make at that octave. One of the archers, a conscripted elf, drew back his bowstring and fired an arrow dead center into the middle of its forehead. It's roar turned into a high pitched whine as its body lurched backward, falling back into the hole it made. The moment of silence only lasted that, a moment. Hundreds of roars rose into the sky, shaking the men to the core.  
"We shouldn't have come here..." The elf murmured, looking around, fear on his face. Hijras looked forwards, beginning to shudder, not just because it was unbelievably cold because those cries were close...  
VERY close...

Then, another unbelievable thing happened, the deep fog fell back, the wall going back several dozens of meters back. It was still almost pitch black, but he could tell that they were there, the bright, glowing eyes looking in their direction. Dozens upon dozens...  
No, hundreds of eyes were looking at them.

"THEIR ALLA ROUND US!" One of the men yelled, drawing his blade, looking down one of the roads, where a horde was coming from. The sound of hundreds of footsteps were all around the group, shambling towards the group. Their roars were deafening as if they were excited by the prospect of seeing the team of Imperials. The elvish archer dropped over, its glowing eyes going out.  
"ARCHERS, KILL THEM, HURRY!" The Captain yelled, fear edging into his loud voice. These... monsters grew quicker and quicker as arrows flew into their ranks. Nothing put them down, though. The Imperial archers fired arrow after arrow into the horde, but they would just get back up and keep running. Only the Elvish archer killed them, with shots directly into the center of their foreheads. This and this alone killed them. Finally, they met the first line of shields, and they were dead instantly. The horde of the dead easily tore the shields away, snapping and clawing into the flesh of the poor soldiers. They were unable to break away from their shields, now being held by the undead hostiles. Hijras, realizing the futility of the shields versus these undead monsters, he unclipped it, running away like a mad man. The other man, distracted by Hijras running, was toppled over easily and devoured by the dead. Swordsmen and Spearmen rushed forwards to fight, only to be feasted upon by the wave of rotting, gray skin. Hijras, the archers, and the Captain, realizing that they had lost, tried to run back to the Gate. Sadly, the rest of the army were pushing through, thinking they were walking into a fight, not a slaughter.

The only thing they were good for was distracting the undead horde long enough to allow the initial group to run like hell. Everyone in the Gate, finally realizing what was going on, ran back as well, pushing through each other as the horde quickly caught up, hungrily roaring. The men in the back were caught and devoured, unable to put up any resistance against the superior strength of the dead numbers. Hijras, the Captain, and the archers made it on the other side but did not stop running. Even at the order of the officers and general, they kept running. They could not stop, not after the horrors they had seen. Hijras looked back, seeing Wyverns being torn from the sky, figures jumping up, and bringing them back down before they could even lift off fully. The group made it to the forest and stopped to catch their breath, saying to words. Then, a roar came over the silent night, which had come rather quickly. They all shared looks, fear, panic, and questions on their faces.

What in the name of the gods did they just unleash on the world?

Hey, people!

Short chapter, I know, but I just wanted to get something out and see what everyone thinks about it.

If all goes well, I'll see you sexy bastards int he next chapter.


	2. Chapter 2

ManwithaPlan113: Ya, I use Grammarly, since I type this in Fanfic. It screws me over more than it helps me, but OpenOffice decided it was too mainstream to know any form of English, so now it says everything is misspelled.  
So, I'm kind of stuck with the errors till I find a new way to write.

Anyways, back to the story!

To say that the army of the Empire was defeated would be a GRAVE understatement. They were beaten, chased, and devoured by the menace beyond the Gate, by the undead hordes.

The undead army spread far, driving through unguarded towns like paper, devouring everyone who stood against them, or anyone that begged their gods for mercy. No gods could save them, as not even they could explain what this was, what ravaged their followers, and even apostles.

From the Gate, the horde headed off in all different directions, spreading like a wildfire in a rather dry forest. Town after town, city after city, however, I do not have the time nor the patience to go into each instance individually, as they all are rather quick and end with the death of the person, so instead this story will include a few interspersed instances of meetings with the dead (Appearing throughout the story!), the first of which occurred at a slave mine. It was nothing major, but not horribly small. It housed over 750 souls, including guards and other Imperials, which brought the number of slaves down to 700.

* The Izen Mine *

The men stationed at Izen were never well trained, due to the location of the mine deep in Imperial territory. The nearest nation, one of the Vassal states, would have to fight their way through a solid five forts just to reach the mine and even then it was such a low-value target that it could be as well as forgotten. Though its size was greater than many of its neighbors, its main resource was silver, which was not used much on a military scale, more for commercial use. even then, there were far bigger mines that specialized in silver, among other things. Due to this fact, the Empire didn;t station many men there, and even fewer slaves. Most of the men weren't even native Imperials, coming from Vassal states or conquered lands. even the highest ranking officer was only a Captain, and he too was not even an Imperial, but a native of Elbe, one of the Empire's Vassals.

How the base of the mine was made was of five buildings. The two buildings designated as the Slave sleeping areas, little more than giant, metal barns with a lot of hay for the slaves to sleep on. Then there were the barracks, where all the weapons were kept and the soldiers and guards slept. The last building was the executive office, a one story building and the smallest of the bunch. It housed the Captain and his officers, as long as having the meeting room for him, his men and however decided the visit the mine that day. Though there was a small building in the back, it was the entrance to the mine, but no one really counted it as one. The ground was mostly grass, but it was paved by pebbles, leading from each building into a central road that went from the main gate to the mine's gate. Aside from that, the whole base was surrounded by 15-foot tall walls made of wood with a catwalk around the inside. There were five watchtowers stretching another ten feet into the air, each one topped by a ballista. Each one was crewed by one man, no one really expected they would have to use them. Even so, the Captain always had another man stationed nearby and ready to run up and help.

The staff was made up almost entirely of guards, 45 as a matter of fact. 3 were 'Ground's Captains', which essentially meant they either bribed the Captain enough or got in his good grace, which also normally included money to some extent. Then there was the Captain himself, who, even as a foreigner, was as stuck up and as much of a pompous ass as the greatest Legates and senators in the Empire. Lastly was a much more meek gentleman, son of an Imperial Senator, but still kind and a little more lax. Not lazy, but he did not rule with an iron fist like the Captain. The only reason he was even there was because his father pulled enough strings to keep him out of a dangerous part of the Empire, and he was VERY well educated, being one of the few to be able to go to the university in the eastern sector of the Empire. He was, for lack of a better term, a genius. He handled all the financial tasks of the mine, which kept them from being driven to closing by all the spendings of the officers. The man's name was Casius Prolot.

In regards to the well-being of the slaves, there were FAR worse places out there. It was rumored that in a place called the 'Big Deep', slaves would not even be allowed bedding to sleep, just lay down on the rocks and try and sleep there. Rarely would a slave sent down see sunlight for weeks, or even again. Countless died, and that alone drove slaves to work hard, aside from the threat of beatings. In Izen, however, beatings were rare, if they ever happened. The Captain did not care about the slaves unless the flow of silver slowed, which his second in command, ironically hated by the Captain and his 'Ground's Captains', ensured did not slow. This was not by way of threats of violence and shows of force, but by was of treating the hardest workers. Of course, he treated insolence accordingly, but in any regular occasion, the slakers just got less. He was well respected by not only the men but the slaves. His name was Fracias Yousif, a native of the colder regions in the far east, and he was about to break 45 if some of the men were right. He was a veteran of the auxiliary core, becoming a high-ranking officer in his company. Sadly, his career was ended tragically in the rebellion of the newly acquired Vassal kingdom to the west. In the midst of the battle, an arrow miraculously came from the top of a hill, sailed past the fighting and drop just enough the strike the man in the knee.  
Let's just say he never walked the same again.

Everything was running well in the mine, regardless of the Captain and his cronies lifestyle of taking everything and spend it, they were all content, at least, until the Imperial army fell. For the first time in the existence of the mine, it was under threat by an outside force, and the aftermath was disastrous.

It was mid-day when the first of the dead was spotted, the watchman of one of the two towers at the gate had happened to look up from the intense and exciting job of watching an ant make the slow progress along the arrowhead of the ballista's loaded shot. At first, the man thought nothing of the lone person, thinking them some traveler heading towards the city nearby. He kept a steady pace, not moving slowly but most certainly not quickly. For a solid hour, he walked forwards, in the direction of the mine, but this still did not raise any red flags for the two front gate guards, the first pointing out the man to the second. How they could tell it was a man was more guesswork than actual knowledge, it was uncommon to see women wandering about alone in areas like this. Yet, as it drew closer, the men began to feel more... on edge.

How the man walked was inhuman, a lurching one might do in jest, but he had been doing it for as long as they could tell he was moving like that, maybe even for longer. His left leg was dragging behind him as if it was unable to move the limb. His arms were slack at his sides, swinging with each lurching movement. The next oddest thing was how the man was dressed, he wore clothes unfamiliar to the guards. The clothing was jet black but torn in places, and missing the whole right sleeve, as if it had been ripped off in a fight. His pants were mostly intact, and he had two, black shoes that looked like they cost a fortune. How his head was angled ensured that they could not see his face. Now, he was getting too close for comfort and was most certainly not turning anywhere else, so one of the watchtower guards got the nerve to yell down to him.

"Hey! This is Imperial property, state your business!" He shouted, causing the man to come to a lurching halt. One of the guards guessed he was drunk and had wandered away from wherever he had been, due to his movements. The man lurched forwards when he stopped as if he had no control of his body. he stood there for a second as if gathering his thoughts on how to respond. Then he, or more accurately, it looked up to the two towers, as if it just realized something was there. Its face was mutilated, damaged almost beyond repair. Part of its bone had been torn away. The wound would have killed a man, but this thing had lived. The most shocking thing, if that was even possible, was its eyes, glowing a bright orange color. The two just looked at the monster in a dumbfounded manner, completely speechless. Then, it made a noise.

Well, that was an understatement, it screeched, a deep noise that forced the men to cover their ears more out of shock than the noise itself. It echoed far louder than anything a human, or even ten men could make. It bent backward, tilting its head up to the sky and yelled for a solid five seconds. All the slaves and guards in the prison stopped what they were doing, looking to the gate. The camp fell silent, everyone listening to the yell of the creature until it petered off into a hoarse breath.

"What in the name of the gods was that?!" The Captain yelled from the bottom of the tower, fear and anger mingling in his voice. The guard didn't respond with words, seemingly scared into silence. Instead, he pointed past the monster, the new thing catching his attention far more terrifying. Less than two leagues away came a wave of black from a forest, the setting sun putting their shadows several meters in front of them. It was as if they had been on retainer, waiting for the call of their comrade and rushed out in mass. His voice just couldn;t, and wouldn't work, just giving a soft cry as his face became deathly pale. the other watch tower guard finally got his words back.

"A large amount of something is coming our way!" Disbelief was in his voice as he yelled that, his hand shaking as he too pointed to it. The Captain scoffed at that notion, storming to one of the towers.

"It is probably one of the armies marching back from a successful-" Then, the gate flew open, as if something with far stronger than a man rammed into it. Instead of a giant, frightening monster, one that could have made a sound like the cry made mere moments before, or a creature with the physical ability to knock away a metal gate, stood a simple man, no taller than six feet. The Captain stopped in his tracks, his mouth gaping as the words he was going to say got caught in his throat. The monster lurched forwards at a startling rate, speeding up significantly. Only one guard got the wherewithal to try and stop it. He arched his sword over his left shoulder, bringing it into the creature's stomach in a quick slash. The sword came to stop in its abdomen, but this did not face the monster. It used its forward momentum to topple the guard, who was shocked. Before he could push it off, its lunged its head forwards, jaw snapping. Its teeth sunk into the soft flesh of his neck, blood instantly flying in every direction, staining the road. The man screamed, or, at least, he tried to. The blood had filled up his throat and spurted out of his mouth like a deranged fountain. The monster ripped away, holding arteries and flesh in its mouth.

"KILL THAT THING, QUICKLY!" The Captain bellowed, his face growing more and more pale with each passing second. One of the watch tower archers pulled back his bowstring on his bow, but his hand shook so much that he couldn't get a clear shot. He released the string, hitting the creature directly in the back, knocking it back towards its food. It did not seem to mind and continued to feast, now upon the man's arm. The other tower guard, able to see the side of the creature, took aim, instead, for the head. He released his arrow, and it broke through the skull. That seemed to be enough to kill the creature, sending it toppling to the side. The Captain stood still, his voice caught in his throat. He watched in abstract horror as one of his officers died, bleeding out. In his loss of words, and a second later, his stomach, Fracias Yousif jumped to the moment.

"The gate, close the damned gate!" He barked, pointing to the now wide open doors. Two of the men leaped back into reality and bolted to either door. With a hefty shove, they slammed the large doors shut, putting the long board over the two hooks. They backed away quickly, looking over the door.

The two doors that made up the gate was made, primarily, wood. They stood as high as the wall, curving away to the ground. Iron was put on the perimeter of either door individually, but that did not offer much protection. The fact of the matter was, they never expected anyone to actually attack this place. The captain got his words back, edging away from the dead body.

"Move... Move him," he said, his voice dull and emotionless. Though, what his voice did not portray, his eyes did show, absolute terror and disgust. Two guards grabbed the arms and legs of their fallen comrade, moving him to the back of the camp. Two more grabbed the dead body of the monster, moving it there as well. The Captain shook his head, slouching. When he looked up, he saw everyone present was looking at him, then he remembered where he was, and he was in command. Immediately, he began dishing out commands.

"Man the ballista towers! Archers, on the wall! I want a handful of men, that is your choice on who Yousif, to patrol the walls and see if anyone is coming from anywhere else! Slaves are to be moved back to the sleeping areas, and relocked back into the rooms! everyone else, remain here for further orders!" A hail of 'yes sirs' came at his words, people being filled with reassurance at his professional attitude, everyone but two. One was Fracias, but he had long since learned to keep his tongue and went on to arrange half a dozen men onto the walls. Casius, on the other hand, was not as wise nor as subservient and confronted the Captain on the orders. he walked over to the man, who was now issuing orders to the remaining prison guard.

"We will hold at the gate as long as possible until the command building can be properly prepared for the siege. Once it is ready, the remaining men will fall back into the center. Once all of them are in, the clock is against us. We must barricade everything as quickly possible. Those of you who I have talked to, collect all the food and water you can get your hands on and bring it to the center. Everyone else, prepare for combat!" As everyone ran off, Casius stopped the Captain as he went to walk away.

"Ah, Casius, come with me, we have much work ahead of us..." The Captain said, then moved to continue walking. Casius, however, stopped him again.

"Of course. Sir... But, perhaps, you are forgetting about something?" The Captain stopped at that, turning to face the younger man. He cocked his head, looking off into the sky for a second. It was almost a mocking gesture as if he only humoring Casius.

"Hmm... No, not that I can think of."

"About the bulk of the population of this camp, sir?"

"Ahh, you must be referring to the slaves?"

"Yes, sir." The Captain chuckled as if this was somehow funny to him.

"Casius, I did not forget about them, they are very fundamental in this plan!" The Captain paused, looking at Casius. It was clear he was waiting for Casius to ask what he meant. The man budged, sighing slightly.

"How, sir, are they-"

"Thank you for asking, Casius, it is a bit ingenious, if you ask me..." The portly guard Captain wrapped his arm around the shoulders of the young senator's son. It was a tight, almost crushing grip as the duo walked forwards. Well, the Captain was walking and was more or less dragging Casius along for the ride.

"My plan is to lock the slaves into the two sleeping areas. Seeing as they are in the front of the camp, this horde will reach them first. If they are anything like out friend, then they will want flesh. What is inside of those two buildings, well, several hundred creatures, which must look very delectable to those monsters. So, what will happen is when they begin moving past the buildings, they will be making those noises. Inside, those panicked slaves will begin crying out and making noise, and that will attract their attention. They will begin attacking the buildings. This will attract more of their attention, and draw the horde to these two buildings. This allows those of use in the command building to survive with minimal effort." Casius thought for a second.

"But... Will the slaves be given food? Water?! Anything?!" The Captain stopped, bringing Casius to a halt as well. The man spun around, now standing in front of him. The Captain studied the younger guard's face as if trying to find to find out if he were serious.

"Well... no. We need all the supplies we can get to survive this. Slaves are worth nothing to the Empire." The Captain walked away with his entourage, heading back to oversee the building of defenses in the Command building. Casius gritted his teeth, storming off in the direction of Fracias, who had just sent off the men to patrol the walls. When the officer turned around, he knew what was coming. He folded his hands behind his back as the younger man stormed over.

"I can't believe him!" The younger man said in a hushed, angry voice. He had his arms crossed, a look of absolute fury on his face. Fracias cracked a slight smirk, turning and walking up the steps to the catwalk going around the wall. Casius was at his side, and they walked at a leisurely pace.

"What happened?" The officer asked, humoring the young, upstart man.

"The Captain says he won't give any supplies to the slaves when that... horde comes!" Fracias raised an eyebrow, giving the young man a slight look.

"The slaves?"

"Yes! He says that he will even use them as bait to keep their focus off of the Command building!"

"Well, they are just slaves." Casius stopped in his tracks, of all the people he had expected to hear that from, Fracias was not among the list. Fracias took a few more steps forwards, then turned around to face the young man. The disbelief in his eyes was overwhelming, then he began speaking.

"But- How could YOU of all people say that?!"

"Me? Why would I not?"

"You are the... paragon of compassion towards them, lenient and unrestrictive to each of them!"

"Your point? I may not abuse them like some, but is all a psychological effect, walk with me." They continued the trek along the catwalk, now reaching the very back, meaning they had reached half way around the base.

"How I see it, a slave will work hard if you always threaten to abuse them, to beat them. You instill fear. In short term, it is far more effective, but the fear leads to hate, that hate leads to rebellious, though, then you get the Rebellion of year 102. And we don't want that again. Kindness, on the other hand, means the slaves get rewards if they work harder. This makes them not rebellious, but competitive. Not against the guards, but each other. They want more, more luxury and more... well, anything. That means they will always try and beat the other, leading to them being more effective in the long run. Do you understand?" Casius looked off to the slave building in thought, mulling over the words of his elder.

"I guess so... It's just... Wrong, that's all." Fracias gave a slight shrug as if the thought didn't burden him much.

"Yes, they are living creatures and should be treated with enough respect to be at least allowed to live. Yes, they would give use extra muscle and bodies for jobs, should they arise, but look at this from another standpoint, Casius. Room, food, illness. The command building is a single story, made up of five quarters, the Captains, the two remaining officers, and two empty ones, probably to be given to whoever he wants to be in good graces with as we wait. Meaning me, and whoever else gains the respect of the men. The meeting room will be transformed into a sleeping area, undoubtedly and the roof hated way would lead to our makeshift storage area. We have no room in there to take in more people if we can even fit all the remaining guards." Casius fell silent for a bit, looking at the ground.

"I just... Wish there was another way..." The walked silently for a bit, nearing the front gate.

"Fracias?"

"Aye."

"Did you ever go to a university? You speak like a very educated man."

"That comes from experience, Casius. Those Universities can only teach you so much." They went their separate ways, to see over separate tasks.

The two bodies, one of the fully dead Nazi, and the bitten Imperial were dumped behind the command center. Two holes were dug next to them or almost dug. The men in charge of the job were called inside to help with moving the conference table outside. The dead Imperial had stopped bleeding, the blood staining most of his face, and down his neck to his breastplate. His eyes still showed the abstract horror and pain of death, at least, for a few seconds. First, his pupils dilated a quick blink. Then, he sat still again. For a moment, it seemed nothing more would happen, perhaps it was just the body reacting...

Then, he blinked again, his eyes becoming the same glow as the fully dead Nazi's were. He slowly brought himself up, letting out a soft growl. It looked up to the wide open door to the command room, a lot of noise coming from inside. With another slight wheeze, it dragged itself up to its feet, slouching, hanging its head. It took one shaky step, nearly collapsing from that alone. Then it took another, stronger this time as it found control over the limbs. It took another one, quicker this time, soon it was stumbling forwards, excited. It knew only one thing, eat. And sound meant food.

To say everything went south would be an understatement. To say that the proverbial shit had just hit the proverbial fan was also too low of a statement to explain just how screwed the camp was. Within two minutes, the entire command center became a graveyard. The Captain, one of his lackeys, and several guards were dead at that time, turned into bloodthirsty monsters like the Nazi, like their fallen comrade. One of the lackeys escaped, screaming his head off, and the dead followed. At that moment, the horde had passed into the range of the ballista, but they were too distracted by the horde now flowing through the camp. The new dead devoured everyone they could grab, killing half the guard on the grounds in mere minutes. Fracias, getting his plan together, grabbed every man he could, including Casius and the last lackey, and went to one of the slave buildings. Each of the lackeys and the Captain himself held a key to everything. Their chains had one for the mine, one for the slave buildings, one for the command building, one for the barracks and one for the mine. Fracias only had one for the mine and the barracks.

"Hurry up and open the damn door!"

"I'M TRYING!" The lackey barked back, fumbling each key into the hole to the lock. The remaining guards created a semicircle around the lackey, who was still screwing around with the keys. If the dead got to close, the soldiers would use their swords to push them back. However, they were building in numbers. Then, the horde arrived at the door. The first hit on it

The first hit on it cracked the long board keeping the door shut. The second split it, sending the two shards flying away like a toothpick. The last barged the door open, and the horde stormed in, roaring and snapping, smelling their prey. At that moment, the lackey found the right key, and the massive, iron doors opened into the building. The group rushed in, quickly closing the door. As it got close to closing, the horde pushed in on the other side, the men starting to slide back.

"PUSH!" Fracias barked, some of the men being thrown away. They shot back up, pushing back against the undead horde. They had to get the door closed before the main group arrived and overpowered the remaining guards. The lackey let go of the door, looking along the sides of the door for something. Leaning next to the door sat a massive, several inch thick bar of metal. Much like with the front gate, the door had two hooks where the bar could be fit. The lackey ran over, giving it an experimental tug. The bar didn't even budge no matter how hard he pulled. Frantically, he looked to the group fighting the door back. He called out, trying to get one of their attention. This was, however, fruitless. Whether or not any of them even noticed him they would be unable to help. Instead, he would have to do something he would never have done in any other instance;  
Release slaves.

The man ran to the nearest cell, looking in. Four slaves looked back, eyes wide in fear and surprise at seeing him. They could hear the noise outside, and see the guards fighting back against whatever was on the other side of the door. They were made up of a warrior bunny, a wolf man, and two humans, probably ex-rebels. He quickly gathered his thoughts, then spoke.

"Can you understand me?" He said breathlessly, his voice not just dripping with panic, but a literal flood with it. The Wolf man was shocked by this and nodded quickly, the rest following in suit. The lackey pointed to the door, which near crashed open again.

"Beyond that door is a horde of monsters, horrible, vile monsters that feast on living flesh!" He then pointed to the massive, iron bar lying next to the door, in a sweeping motion, pointed to the two hooks.

"We have to get that bar onto that hook, and we will be safe, can you do that?!" It was less of a question on IF they could move the bar, as the joint might of all five of them could easily do it, and the Wolf man realized this. The question was if they could be trusted with the task, and if ALL their lives were truly on the line, then he would have to oblige.

"Yes." He said, his voice deep and scratchy. The lackey nearly collapsed, feeling as if a weight had been lifted from his shoulders.

"Okay... Okay..." He quickly pulled out the keyring, fiddling a few in. The door gave another heave, nearly throwing the rest of the guards away.

"I THINK THE REST ARRIVED!" One of the guards yelled. The lackey looked over for a second, then sped up with the keys, finally fitting the right one into the keyhole and turning it. The locking mechanism gave a dull thud, and the lackey ripped the door open. Without a word, him and the slaves ran to the bar. With the helWolfmane Walfman, they tipped it into the arms of the warrior bunny, who's knees buckled under the weight. The lackey and one of the men grabbed the middle and the Wolfman and other prisoner took the back. They moved behind the guards and tried to lift the bar up. Slowly, they made progress, but they would not be fast enough. The force beyond the door was far too great and was beginning to push them back. Two of the guards on the door, realizing what the lackey was trying to do, stopped holding the door and helped with the bar. With one more push, the bar was put over where it was supposed to be, but that just left them with another problem:  
The door was not closed enough to let the bar fall into place. While two of them held the bar in place, the rest helped push the door.

"Everyone, get ready to push! 1... 2... 3... PUSH!" Everyone stepped back from the door for a second, then put all of their remaining strength into the door. The sudden push must have knocked a few of the dead away because the door shut completely, and the bar fell into place with a heavy and loud bang. Everyone jumped away as the dead renewed their push. The door slammed into the bar, but it did not budge. The roars and growls outside grew louder as if those monsters realized their prey had just slipped through their fingers. Everyone looked at each other, speechless and essentially dead. They had bought themselves time, but for how long?

I know this took a while, but I needed to get something out during the holiday break, so there you are!

Make sure to review, I could use you guys to drum up ideas, as I am, kinda, winging this whole thing.

Doc out.


End file.
